Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Barnes & Noble.com - Bestsellers: Barnes & Noble Booktalk: "High and Mighty Harry: Destined for No. 1 on this list long before a single reader had turned a page of J.K. Rowling's sixth adventure, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince doesn't just stand above the competition: it levitates. Harry outsold its nearest bestseller rival by a factor of ten. Several versions wound up on the year-end list, with the deluxe edition of Half-Blood Prince currently holding No. 73, the unabridged CD audiobook is also at No. 19 on Barnes & Noble.com's year-end list, with the cassette audio edition at No. 84. "

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Independent Online Edition > Business News: "The company ordered 10.8 million copies of Half-Blood Prince, the largest print run in the history of publishing. 'We wanted enough books out there so every single fan could get a book when they wanted it,' explained Scholastic's Kyle Good. 'This was the number we came up with in collaboration with the retailers.'

Buoyed by the news that Half-Blood Prince had sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, 1.9 million more than on the first day of the previous Potter tome, Scholastic promptly ordered a further 2.7 million copies, bringing the total to 13.5 million.

'This is a cause for celebration, not just for Scholastic but for book lovers everywhere,' chirped Lisa Holton, the president of Scholastic Children's Books, at the time.

Now, Scholastic's chairman, Richard Robinson, whose father Robbie founded the firm in 1920, admits bookshops have been left with 2.5 million unsold copies."

EiTB24.com: "Some 800,000 copies of the official Chinese edition of the latest Harry Potter book have been distributed to bookstores across the country, the government said, almost three months after illegal versions were sold."

Thursday, August 18, 2005

I generally don't see much value in an author spending his precious time signing books at libraries or bookstores... but do think that ANY signature adds value. I never give out a copy of my book without a not on the title page.

Of course, Potter takes this to a whole 'nother level...

2theadvocate.com: Entertainment - Livingston library gets signed Harry Potter book 08/14/05: "'It was a contest through Scholastic,' said Youth Services Librarian Stacie Barron. 'I just had to submit the name and address of the library.'
Scholastic had originally intended to give just one signed copy to an American library that was named the winner in the sweepstakes (that was West Asheville Branch Library in Asheville, N.C.). But, according to a company news release, the response was 'overwhelming.'
More than 9,000 libraries nationwide entered the contest. So Scholastic decided to name one winner in each state. The Livingston Parish Main Library in the town of Livingston was the winner for Louisiana."

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

I get questions all the time about "should I have an e-book?" and other forms of putting out a book.

Yes. And today's Potter story remids us that even the best selling book can make more with audio versions.

Journal Gazette | 08/15/2005 | Giving voices to Potter series: "Dale has given voice to more than 200 characters in the audio versions of the six “Harry Potter” books published so far (author J.K. Rowling has said a seventh title will end the series). The first five audio books in the series smashed previous sales records with more than 4 million copies sold in North America.

For the initial run of the most recent title, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” 635,000 audio versions were printed, making it the largest first run in the history of audio books, says Amanda D’Acierno, a spokeswoman at Random House Audio."

Books-A-$1.7 Million [Fool.com: Motley Fool Take] August 17, 2005: "Even so, it bears pointing out that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince went on sale in July (near the end of Q2), so it didn't affect Q1 at all. Yet Books was doing pretty well this year even before Potter turbocharged the company's sales. In fact, through the first half of this year, Books' sales were up nearly as well as in Q2 alone -- posting a better-than-6% improvement over the first half of fiscal 2004. Likewise, profits increased a most respectable 24% over the numbers Books posted in 1H 2004."

WSJ.com - 'Harry Potter' Lifts Sales, But Borders Net Dives 84%: "Sales of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' accounted for about 4% of the 6% rise in trade-book sales. Sales of the book went 'as expected,' with sales having an initial burst when the book first came out and then slowing quite a bit since then, said Borders finance chief Ed Wilhelm. He attributed the slowing to more copies of the book being printed than previous Harry Potter books, with the latest being more widely distributed than past installments. However, the top 50 books excluding the Harry Potter book were down from the a year earlier.
Consumers who purchased the new Harry Potter book also spent money in the retailer's cafe, and other children's-related products sold well because of the book, Mr. Wilhelm said."

Blair said he has sent out more than 100 cease and desist letters to Web sites in countries including the United States - home to the most offenders - the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Poland, China, Spain and Brazil. He also has sent more than 100 notices to eBay to terminate auctions of the pirated book.

There's a lot of discussion about the "mousetrap" analogy with today. Most experts say that it doesn't matter how great your product (or story in the case of a book) is, the world needs to know about it.

JK Rowling's did write a nice story, and it was "found".. Depending on the version of the story you hear.

I come down in the middle. I believe that a great product is important, and that good marketing will kill a bad product faster. In fact, I think a great book is necessary just to talk about book marketing.

I just did a search for the press release I issued about my Potter Marketing Rearch product and this blog. 16 sites have it listed in Google, 9 media outlets printed it out, and about 375 have accessed it for possible stories.

Some 51,000 have viewed it on prweb.com.

Bear in mind that this project is very late for the July 16th promotion. I didn't even start until AFTER the launch party I attendend.

Here's another press release that's doing the same thing. Their program is for literacy.. reading discusssion groups in general, and the only connection is the name of the book and author in the headline.

CBC Arts: IN BRIEF: 'Harry Potter' sales hit 700,000 in Canada; more: "Potter sales hit fever pitch in CanadaJamie Broadhurst at Raincoast Books in Vancouver estimates sales of the latest Harry Potter book in Canada were between 650,000 to 700,000 in the first weekend.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series about a boy wizard-in-training, was launched July 16 to much anticipation by fans worldwide.Nearly nine million copies of the book sold in the U.S. and U.K. this past weekend, according to Nielsen BookScan.Canada's Indigo Books said the chain did about 1,200 transactions a minute during the first two hours the book was available. "

Monday, July 18, 2005

Top News Article | Reuters.com: "Asda, Britain's second-largest supermarket group and part of the Wal-Mart empire, said it sold nearly 300,000 copies over the weekend, one-third more than for the fifth book in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.'
Online retailer Amazon.com wound up with more than 1.5 million advance orders for the book around the world and bookstore chain Barnes & Noble said it sold a record 1.3 million copies in the first 48 hours of release."

The lesson here is that no matter how successful you've been, there is always more to acheive.

If you're looking for a new stream of income.. consider going back to whatever has done best for you. Rather than a new idea, JK Rowling and Scholastice don't just pump out another book.. they improve each time.

Update 4: Potter Breaks Records Across Atlantic - Forbes.com: "Harry Potter is a record breaker on both sides of the Atlantic. 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' the sixth of J.K. Rowling's fantasy series, sold about 9 million copies in Britain and the United States in its first 24 hours. The only book in publishing history to open nearly as well was Rowling's previous book in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.'

'Typically, a good book will take about four to six months to go gold and very few books reach platinum in their first year of publication. 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' achieved platinum in less than one day!' said Richard Knight, the managing director of Nielsen BookScan, which Monday reported just over 2 million sales in Britain.

British sales of 'Half-Blood Prince' were 13 percent higher than for the first 24 hours of 'Order of the Phoenix.'

In the United States, the new Harry Potter sold 6.9 million copies in its first day - averaging better than 250,000 sales per hour and easily outpacing the debut of 'Order of the Phoenix,' which came out in 2003 and sold 5 million copies.

Acknowledging that some stores quickly ran out of books two years ago, the U.S. publisher, Scholastic Children's Books, has already increased the print run for 'Half-Blood Prince' from 10.8 million copies to 13.5 million. "

Sunday, July 17, 2005

I always recommend that authors have a "fan club".. usually a mailing list of dedicated followers. Escpecailly if you can get them to take action (like buying your book on a certain day to promote it to a higher level on a best seller list)

Potter books don't need this sort of coodinated activity.. but the books do inspire fan clubs. That's a boost even for the number 1 book..

How coud this work for you?

Lumos 2006 - Home: "Grab your broom, set your Portkey, or prepare to Apparate! From July 27-30, 2006, Las Vegas, Nevada is the place to be for Harry Potter fans near and far as we gather to attend Lumos 2006: A Harry Potter Symposium. Following our theme of 'Back to School,' we are planning a variety of daytime academic presentations and panels, including special workshops for educators and librarians. In the evenings, we'll be having fun with an assortment of activities, including Water Quidditch, Hogwarts Night Classes, and Live Chess.

Prepare to be completely immersed in the world of Harry Potter. Our host hotel will be decorated Hogwarts-style, with a 'Great Hall,' a 'Common Room' for all houses, and a library for those wishing to emulate our favorite bushy-haired witch. We'll also enjoy British food and butterbeer throughout the symposium.

This event will mark the third such offering to be sponsored by HP Education Fanon, a non-profit educational organization. "

Saturday, July 16, 2005

I'm not a "Harry Potter Nut", in fact I have never read one of the books, or even watched the movies (well, it's on in the next room quite often)

The purpose of creating articles, blogs, press releases, web sites, and mailing about a topic is to cross promote a service in a new way.

This is princle is used extensively in the Potter Empire, and should be a consideration for all marketers (if you have a product or service, you ARE a marketer).

Here's some of the activities that have helped boost this particular project..

Posts on this blog, and other blogs, with links coming back to this site

An email went out to authors on my mailing list, letting them know that I have new information that can help them. Reading this list is part of that.

A press release went out, announce the research project, and linking back here and to my primary website

An article with more in depth information will be coming soon. That will get the same treatment as above.. "rinse and repeat"

Here's the press release that I sent out...

The launch of "Harry Potter - Half Blood Prince" is the most successful book launch of all time. Most book marketers not directly involved lament about this, but one says that's the wrong approach.

Book Marketing Expert Warren Whitlock suggests that the "Harry Potter Craze" is great for the book market in many ways.. "I encourage the authors I work with to model successes" said Whitlock. "This is the most successful book launch ever, and full of innovation and lessons for us all"

Whitlock has announced a web log (blog) to share the data he has collected, and to encourage discussion among authors and publishers.

"Every book marketing project this year has had to compete with the pre-sales of Harry Potter - Half Blood Prince. Instead of fighting Potter, we should be studying the process and using the best new ideas to enhance our own promotions"

Results of Whitlock's research can be found at http://pottermarketing.blogspot.com

Whitlock's free training program for authors is at http://marketingresultscoach.com/authors

Warren Whitlock is a book marketing expert, training hundreds of authors each year about the process he uses to make a book a best seller. He is co-author with Mark Victor Hansen, Wayne Dyer and Dr. Richard of the number 1 best seller "Wake Up... Live the Life You Love" and has promoted dozens of books to "best seller" status. His next book "Business Successes" will be released in the Fall.

At first, it looked like any other Friday night crowd at the shopping center. The attached Starbucks had a full crowd outside, and there appeared to be one family in portable chairs near the door.

Then I went inside.. about 8:00 there were at least double the normal number of people. Scattered throughout the store, reading books, kids saying "Mom will you buy me this?" and a few in costumes.

We see costumes in bookstores... and Friday night crowds.. so what was the big deal.

Once I figured out there wasn't going to be a place to sit, I retreat to the parking lot and noticed the other stores were doing well... I sat on a bench for sometime, taking in the sights, and "people watching"

After a while, I went and found some late dinner, and came back around 11:00 PM.

What a difference!

The other stores were closed.. but the parking lot was full.

Here's a lesson for us all. The managers of the other stores in the area must have known that the book was coming out. Some of them even have it for sale. I would seem to be an easy promotion to alter hours for the evening.. maybe put a few items out of the sidewalk, or even rent a tent and create some related specials.

The sales possibilities were there.. more important, this was a perfect opportunity to BOND with the community. Families there spending the evening, not wanting to take the kids home and risk falling asleep. And likely more would have been there, turned away by the crowd in the store (after all, most of us can survive 12 more hours and pick up the book the next day)

A few minutes before Midnight, a truck pulled up and unloaded a lot more books.

Inside a manager stood on the counter with a bullhorn and made announcements. Most everyone there had already signed up some time before. (lesson, you can make a much large promotion if you organize it to build up over time).

Purchaser got a wrist band and a number. Those who signed up months ago got a lower number. (an added value with no real cost). They were buying into the experience. Barnes & Noble did discount the book, but not as much as Wal*Mart, and no doubt the book was easier to order at Amazon.com.

These people were there for the "big launch experience" (so was I)

With just a minute to go.. people arrived out of nowhere and the store must have had several times its' capacity. I snapped a shot as I ducked out the front door, and got mauled by the crowd passing me, pushing inside.

Finally got a comfortable seat at Starbucks and started listing my notes.. lessons one can learn from observing the event unfold.

I'll share them in short form below.. and elaborate in an article I'm working on for later today.

Things to learn from Harry Potter

You can sell a lot mere than you do. First run on this book is more than all of the last five books combined.. all of them were considered great successes at the time.

People do read. The kids, parents, adults, everyone in the store had a book or magazine in hand... there was more reading than talking for most of the evening.

Many people in the store had never read the book or bought a copy. They didn't get up an leave, they asked questions and got into the excitement.

Fiction books can sell. Next time I get "will promotion work for my book?" I'll have a different story to tell.

You need FANS.. not a customer list.. find the passionate crowd and sell to them.

Don't assume you know the market. This is NOT a kiddie book anymore.. and the promotion has been adapted and improved with each volume.

Be aware of what's going on around you. Don't close up too early.

Break the rules.. to get extraordinary results, you can't be ordinary.

Set new rules. Make the cost of "belonging" some real cost. An ad saying "new Harry Potter book out" wouldn't have elicited this amount of excitement, or sales.

Use more then one medium. It's not a book, it's an Empire.

Get inside the story going on in the reader's head. The first books were mysteries, now the "story" is the Anticipation and the promotion.

Make the buying process fun There is more to the experience than just purchasing and reading a book... tap into the emotion.

In the eight months that Amazon has been taking pre-orders for today's release, the book has almost always been the top seller. So when you ask "how many books does it take to make sure you beat "Harry Potter".. we now know it's about 1.5 million.

But wait, there's more.

As soon as the book was released, Scholastic also gave us a "Deluxe Edition" ($54), A "large print edition" for the older pre-teens, and audio version on Cassette and CD.

Don't forget the box set.. all five past volumes in a cardboard sleeve. $72 for harcover, and $27 if you can live with paperbacks.

Amazon will also helping by linking to individual volumes, and merchandise.

The result is 5 "Potter" products in the top 10 early this morning.. currently only 6 of the top 20 and 4 in the top 10.

Funny, Amazon Associates program frowns on cross promoting and offering a bonus as an inducement to buy. Fortunatly for Amazone.. these clowns aren't in charge of the whole site. Everywhere you go there's links to something about Harry Potter.

Smart publsihers are finding all sorts of ways to link things together, and some are even bright enough to put books in places other than bookstores.

Yesterday, while listening to Dan Kennedy interview Joe Vitale, Dan saying "they ought to offer discount coupon's for book in the theatres.. all the hit movies have a book attached" I got thinking of the woman that compained that the Harry Potter parties were keeping her family from seeing "Charlie and Choclate Factory"

I wonder.. if all those kids lining up for Potter last night could have been allowed to hold their place in line while watching a special screening of the other movie at a premium price, would there have been room for a few more people in the store?

In the article below, the WSJ quotes some clueless pubishing people who "aren't sure" if the Internet can be used to sell book.. and talks of web site of a fictional character.

Gosh, I'm never sure if the writer of a blog is for real.

I've added "read some Harry Potter blogs" to my ToDo list.. but for now I assume this is one more tactics NOT used by the Potter Marketing team. 10 million in the first run, on a book for pre-teens... is there any doubt that there is an audience fore ANY book?

Ficional Character has a web site.. why not you?: "Publishers say they have been hesitant to tap into the Web because the Internet's promise as a marketing tool for books had been largely unproven. 'We don't see a lot of change in the book business,' says Patrick Quinn, president of media consulting firm PQ Media, whose clients include the Association of American Publishers, the publishing trade group. Successful Web campaigns for books like 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'The South Beach Diet' -- aimed, respectively, at adventure fans and dieters -- have fueled the idea that the Internet could be used to target niche audiences."

Here's a quote from the Wall Street Journal on Scholastic's plans for Harry Potter:

"The small print: Scholastic hopes the latest Potter book will raise consumer awareness of all Scholastic products, including its lineup of educational literature and children's books. Still, the company will need to seek alternate revenue sources after the seventh and final book in the series is released."

This is a lesson to learn from watching the marketing of Harry Potter books. As good as sales are for the series, there is an even larger revenue stream from the movies, merchandise and mostly the increased sales of all books in that age group (young readers and all ages ADULTS).

At the Barnes & Nobles store I visted during the launch, there were kids and adults in the aisles and other common areas, sitting in the cornes, on the benches, on the floor and right in the middle of the doorway. There we even more outside.

Almost ALL of them were reading.. and carry more items to purchase with their reserved copy of "Harry Potter And the Half Blood Prince"

We keep seeing reports that the Potter series has increased reading and sales of other books... here's so hard evidence...

Last year, even without a new "Potter" book, overall revenue in the young-adult segment increased to $410 million, estimates Mr. Greco. In all, there were more than 21,000 new kids' titles released in 2004 -- double the number in 2002, according to R.R. Bowker in New Providence, N.J., which collects publishing data.

Clearly, the Potter book is used as a way to get customers into a store.

Target had a display offering a $10 discount card for $10.. assuring availability of the book

Wal*Mart just cuts prices.

Rather than discuss the retail fight.. let's look at the power of MILLIONS of presells... without ANY incentive. At the Target display, there were no details for pricing. One would assume that the book would be discounted as with everything else in that particular dept... Target doesn't sell full-priced books.

How could we use this for the kind of Amazon promotion popular today? Perhaps an advance coupon from Amazon (gift certificate), coupled with the bonus gifts we now use.

Imagine haveing 8 months to build up to the publication date? This alone won't beat Potter.. but it's a tool we need in our arsenal.

Bloomberg.com: U.S.: "Walmart.com is selling the Harry Potter title for $16.66 compared with $17.99 at Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. Amazon.com took 1.4 million pre-orders worldwide as of Tuesday. Walmart.com declined to release its sales figure.
Advance sales of the Harry Potter book are outpacing previous installments in the series and it may become the top- selling children's title in history, said Diane Roback, children's book editor for Publishers Weekly. The record is now held by ``The Poky Little Puppy,'' which has sold more than 14.9. million copies. U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. is printing a record 10.8 million books to prepare for demand when the novel goes on sale on July 16.
Borders Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan, estimates Harry Potter will add 2 percentage points to second-quarter sales at stores open at least a year, spokeswoman Anne Roman said. The book could contribute more than 1 percent, or $19.4 million, to Amazon.com's third-quarter revenue, according to an estimate for U.S. sales. "

Wondering how many books you'd have to sell to top Harry during an Amazon promotion?

I'd imagine Amazon.com is one of the "retailers" below.

WSJ.com - When Harry Meets Charlie: "One large online retailer has reported presales topping one million copies, while another says it has received more than 1.4 million preorders world-wide."

WXIZ TV in Georgia had much lower numbers.

"Online, Amazon.com, which already has 100,000 pre-orders, as well as Barnes and Noble, are selling the book for $17.99, 40 percent off list price."

And BLOOMBERG quotes an exact number for Amazon

"Amazon.com took 1.4 million pre-orders worldwide as of Tuesday"

And this confirmation/claficiation from WSJ:

"The sixth installment of the series, "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince," has now sold more than 1.4 million advance copies on Amazon, making it the largest new product release in the history of the bookseller. More than 870,000 of those copies come from orders on the U.S. version of its site. The previous record holder for U.S. and world-wide Amazon order was "Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix," the fifth book of the series released in 2003."

To put the size of today's Harry Potter launch in perspective.. look at these numbers from the Wall Street Journal "Hip Hip for HarryJuly 15, 2005; Page A10

"At last count, the first five Harry Potter books had sold a mind-boggling 270 million copies in 200 territories and 62 languages. Some 103 million copies have been charmed off U.S. shelves alone. And at midnight tonight the mania starts all over as tens of thousands of youngsters jostle with equal numbers of oldsters to get their hands on one of the first copies of the more than 10 million of "The Half-Blood Prince" that publisher Scholastic has printed.

What makes these sales all the more impressive is that behind each one is a reader. A recent British survey of educators and students found that 84% of teachers felt Harry had helped improve child literacy, while more than two-thirds claimed the series had turned non-readers into readers.

As for the kids, 41% said they thought Harry had made reading "cool," and about the same percentage said they'd even be willing to miss their favorite TV show to read the new book. It doesn't hurt that Ms. Rowling's books carry strong moral messages of friendship, courage and the fight for right. Her universe of wizards and witches is very clearly divided between good and evil, and Harry and his friends understand that only through difficult choices and sacrifice (and CONSTANT VIGILANCE!) will their side triumph.

Children identify with such uncompromising themes, and in today's political times those themes may also explain the series' attraction for adults. Whatever Harry's appeal, we wish him luck. Ms. Rowling has one more book to go in the series, but it's a safe bet that well beyond the official end of the Hogwarts adventures, Harry Potter will be guiding untold numbers of new readers toward a lifetime love of books. And that truly is magic."